Understanding Congenital Heart Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

-
Image
Congenital heart defects refer to defects in the heart that children are born with. These are one of the most common congenital defects globally. In India too, 200,000+ children are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). These are the numbers of the cases that are recorded – there maybe many more which go undiagnosed and hence untreated. Only 25 per cent of the children diagnosed with a congenital heart defect are able to get the required treatment. A lack of awareness and access to resources are the biggest challenges in children getting timely treatment. Organisations like Genesis Foundation, a congenital heart foundation India has been taking steps to both build awareness and provide financial treatment to those who cannot afford the cost of treatment. The treatment for CHD is expensive and families that do not earn enough to meet their daily needs have to depend on funds they receive as a congenital heart disease donation to support the treatment. Symptoms of Congenital Heart
Post a Comment

Familiar Faces with CHD and their Journey- Valerie Azlynn

-

How many kids have you heard about, who had to go through open-heart surgery at the age of 13? 

Did she survive? Well, she is ruling the hearts of people.

Famous for her role in the hit ‘Big Bang Theory’, she was born on November 25, 1980, in New London, Connecticut. 

Valerie Azlynn is a well-known American actresses who is famous for her marvelous work on and off the screen. She has been a part of many television shows and movies and many of us also know her from the famous TV comedy Sullivan & Son. But did you know there was a chance that we would have never seen her in the movies or in fact there was a small chance that she wouldn’t be alive right now? 

Shocked right?

At the age of 13, Valerie and her parents found out that she was suffering from an Atrial Septal Defect, a type of Congenital heart defect in which more blood flow is directed towards the lungs which can overfill the lungs and overwork the right side of the heart making it weak. At the age of 13, Valerie’s thoughts changed from being a fun-loving singer to whether she would survive or not, a carefree kid to whether she would be alive to fulfill her dreams or not. 

The options available with her were either to have a patch that would go through a vein and open up in her heart or have an open-heart surgery. At that time, she was not aware of any kid of her age having an open-heart surgery, the only people she knew with some kind of heart problem, were her and her 80-year-old aunt who had a heart procedure and her grandfather who died because of a heart attack. Since congenital means present from the birth, it did come to her mind that her grandfather might have also died because of the same reason as before the heart attack, he too didn’t have any heart condition which was the same as Valerie who was a healthy kid growing up.

At that time, the patch was not approved to be used universally, therefore Valerie and her parents had to wait for a few years before the news came that she would not get a patch and within days only her open heart surgery was done. Valerie in an interview said that she was in tension before the surgery but the people who were most afraid were her parents, as at that time they understood the reality of the situation better.

She also said in an interview “The physical pain after the procedure, it's rough. I mean, you're cut in half. Everything is working through a heart and lung machine, you're not really in control of your body anymore. The risk was low that I would die, but coming out of it and the rehabilitation, that I didn't have the awareness of, was tough”

Everyone sees success but no one looks at the struggle, no one looks at the problems faced by the person to achieve that success. She works with an NGO as a spokesperson, working towards donation for child surgery and also helping the kids, who are dealing with similar trauma or awkwardness due to their open-heart surgery. She is an inspiration for those kids, as well as for everyone else.

Sitting from the comfort of your homes, you can also make donation for child surgery for organizations like Genesis Foundation, who just like Valerie Azlynn, help kids in fighting with CHD by providing adequate financial support for surgeries.

-Contributed by Karan Mohanani 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 hospitals for Congenital Heart Disease Treatment

-
The number of hospitals offering Congenital Heart Disease Treatment in India is slowly increasing. In the early and mid-1990’s there were only a few hospitals offering treatment, but with advancing technologies and a greater need for such niche treatment, there are around 50 hospitals both in the private and government sector offering Congenital Heart Disease Treatment for children who are born with heart defects.  Here are the top 10 hospitals for child heart surgery in India: 1. Madras Medical Mission is the first hospital in India in the private sector to treat children with Congenital Heart Defects. The hospital was founded in 1982 by well-known Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Dr K M Cherian. The hospital is in Chennai. It is well equipped to handle all sorts of Congenital Heart Defects and around 400 pediatric open-heart surgeries to 500 cardiac Cath Interventions are done per year. Dr K Shivakumar is the Head of Department of Pediatric Cardiology.  Click here  to connect with them.
Read more

The importance of timey diagnoses is treating a child with a CHD

-
Image
An accurate and timely diagnosis has become critical in changing the long-term outcome for many conditions. This can be cancer, heart conditions, neurological conditions like autism in children, a diagnosis made on time enables one to undertake proactive steps and seek the right medical advice and treatment to ensure a better outcome.  When it comes to congenital heart defects (CHDs) also known as hole in heart by birth , the situation is also not so different. There was a time when a diagnosis of a congenital heart defect would have meant a death sentence- that is not the case anymore. In most cases CHDs can be treated, timely diagnosis being the key.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adverse perinatal outcomes and birth defects are responsible for the loss of 15 million years of healthy life due to premature death and disability. If these are diagnosed on time, there can be a significant improvement in infant mortality and morbidity.  Congenital heart defects affect
Read more

A Congenital Heart Defect Survivor's Story

-
Image
As a baby pushes its way out into this world, and takes that first tentative cry, a million dreams take birth in the hearts of the parents. Small dreams of teaching their child how to throw a ball, of the first day of school, or perhaps of watching him/her tie their own shoelaces for the first time. But what if the only dream you have for your child is that they are able to just live to see another day? This is often the plight of parents whose children are born with congenital heart defect. Read it full here: The Story of Anshul Written by Jyoti Sagar (Founder Trustee) Genesis Foundation ( Children's Healthcare Foundation )facilitates medical treatment for critically ill under-privileged children suffering with Heart Disorders. The support required in the said critical illness varies from specific surgeries (including neonatal), Cath Lab Interventions, along with recovery and recuperation post surgery.We Save Little Hearts.
Read more